St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-01-15
MALARIA'S FOE
History of the Discovery and General In
PRODUCTION of Ounfne.

History of the Discovery and General In"
PRODUCTION of Quinine.
When the Jesuits went first to Peru
the aborigines knew nothing of the
cinchona trees medicinal value, using
the bark only for its coloring matter to
dye their various fabrics.
Peru was discovered in 1913, and no
mention is made of Jesuits' bark, or
Peruvian bark, Us it was afterward
called, until 1000
There is story that some of the
Jesrits who suffered severely from the
aguc and the results Of malaria drank
out of pool in the Peruvian forests in
to which had fallen one of the trees.
Having the hot stage upon them, they
drank heartily, and the following day
failed to have their regular fever and
chill, and, looking for cause, the bark
was discovered. This may or may not
be true.
Another story is that an Indian
cacique cured Jesuit missionary who
was attacked with intermittent fever,
and that Peruvian bark was what was
used.
The bark and its praises reached the
court. and the Countess of Chinchonon.
wife OF the Eicerov of Peru, vas herself
cured of intermittent fever. She car
ried the bark to England, and, being
benevoltntly inclined, dispensed it to
the poor 1t was called on this account
cinchona bark, one letter being left out
of the name through an error of SPELL
ing, and it is so called to this day.
The Peruvian bark began to be sent
in 1910 to Spain to their brethren by
Jesuits in Peru, and through them was
spread all over Europe, being at that
time called JesuitS' bark; but this name
was superseded by that of Lady Chin
chona. For q long time it was very
costly. because of the labor entailed in
obtaining it and getting it out of the
country.
The cinchona tree grows upon the
sides Of mountains, rather high, and
fourishes best where the temperature
is warm and equal all the year round.
Moist atmosphere is also necessary, and
such condition is also favorable to the
luxuriant growth of climbing and twin
ing plants, which so firmly clutch and
bind the trees that even when the trunk
is cut through the tree will not fall I'M
til these vines are also cut loose. Then
the bark is peeled off and arranged in
to bundles, which are packed out of the
forests upon the backs of the poor ma
tives.
These cascarilleros, or b ark-peelers,
endure great hardships. They can not
understand the value of the bark, as
they only regard it as dye-stuff and
think that there are better stuffs nearer
at hand.
The system of cutting the trees down
threatened to exterminate them, and
the method of peeling the bark off for
only quarter Of the way round was
tried with success. After these
quarterings are removed the de-
nuded surface is covered with
moss, and, by the time the rest of the
bark is removed, that is in four years,
new bark has formed under the moss,
which gives as good ayield of quinino
as the original bark.
The trees became so scarce that the
Dutch Government had number Of
trees transplanted to Java, where the
conditions were favorable for the
growth and development Of the bark.
When these trees grew UP analysis Of |
the bark showed that very inferior trees
had been planted. However, better trees
were planted and did well. About the
same time the English Government took
trees to the south of India, and they |
now have several millions of trees
yielding good bark, and there are many
private plantations.
1t has been found that they thrive
finely under cultivation, and by ''moss-
ing' the trunks and using certain fer
tilizers the yield of q,sinine from the
bark is greater than in the wild trees.
Its cultivation is not yet tried in the
United States. but it is quite likely that
suitable locations will be found where
the tree may be raised; then we will
get cheaper quinine. Cincinnati Com
7neyci0E Gazette.
e.